Friday, February 15, 2008

This Could Get Ugly

PezCycling News posted a great commentary on the current situation in cycling. Here's a brief excerpt:

The CPA should, quite simply, Strike.

The riders should not be subject to decisions “on the fly”. Riders should never be worried about being black balled, but it’s going to take balls to make it happen, and I don’t mean sitting in the road for a few minutes… I mean nobody should kit up and show at all…

Damn it men, you can’t make a point by riding a stage slowly and generating 7 hours of TV revenue instead of 5 and a half and call that “making a point”!

Neither can riders sit in kit on the road with frowns on their faces...

Guys when you show up full tilt in protest, you're generating TV interest... You're showing sponsors logos...

And you're giving the same people you are fighting a spotlight and a microphone to promote themselves even more...

Don't feed the beast any longer...

Simply don't show.

Have your fairly new president (Cedric Vasseur) call a press conference and state your case.

8 comments:

Pro cycling is the most broken profesional sport I know of. ASO not letting the defending champs return? Nothing ever happening from Puerto?? Come on, dozens of blood bags but no takers??? Who can trust Bruyneel after he hired Basso on Discovery when it was clear he was guilty. The list goes on. I feel bad for cyclists wanting to get into the sport. Total joke. I will pay attention to the local races only this year.

I agree, the cyclists should strike. They shouldn't put up with these arbitrary decisions. The race organizers and cycling governing bodies should have clear rules and stick to them. If something comes up they should change the rules for next time, not make an on-the-spot decision - because if that door is open, it will get used and abused. As the Pez editorial said, they should be making rulings, not decisions.

I have a hard time getting into and serious about pro cycling. I guess if you're OK with the circus that it is, you can be entertained. But sports rely on a certain level of fair play, but with doping, all the waring players and the fat cats trying to get rich off of these races, it doesn't seem very fair.

I barely have enough time for my own riding, why should I waste my time on the pro cycling soap opera?